SWAK Stats: Vivi Ennui

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1. Where do you look for style inspiration? Old movies and vaudeville posters... and fellowplus size bloggers! I love seeing fashion on women MY size so I don't have to imagine how the cut/fit was larger plus sizes translated in.

2. Heels or flats?Both! They are both amazing and have their moments.

3. Who is your celebrity style crush?It's a tie between Lucille Ball, Jane Russell and Rita Hayworth. Those ladies all had such a strong sense of self.

4. What is your go-to piece for easy out-the-door style?The SWAKSabrina Plus Size Maxi Dress. Hands down! The cut is basic but elegant. It can be dressed up or down. I'm 6'2 and it's so hard to find a maxi that is floor length on me.

6. What are three surprising things we'd find in your purse?Sentimental things like movie stubs, show tickets and hotel keys. I also keep those little silica packets in my purse and luggage (they absorb moisture and keep your bags from getting musty).

7. Why do you think fashion matters?Fashion is so many things. It's frosting. It's armor. It's a first (and sometimes last) impression. The way a woman chooses to dress tells you so much about her.

What she loves about herself and what she wants you to see in her. Fashion matters because it is an extension of who we are inside and who we want to be.

8. What's your favorite fashion memory?A friend gave me a tacky ice blue floor length bridesmaid dress one year. I cut it up, dyed it green and hand painted ivy on the skirt because I wanted to be an Old Hollywood Poison Ivy for Halloween. I was on Capitol Hill in Seattle headed to a private club when a guy dressed as one of the crazy 88 excitedly bolted across the street and said “OMG! You're Poison Ivy! I LOVE IT!” It was really cool to entirely reinvent such an iconic classically thin character's style and still have it be easily recognized.

9. Early bird or night owl?Night owl. The best things in life happen after 2am.

10. What's your favorite movie and why?Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's about finding yourself, acceptance, sacrifice, self-expression and love. It is both funny and tragically poignantly profoundly beautiful.